Brendan Simpkins

THE fight against COVID-19 has commenced in the north with the first round of vaccines being administered at the Lyell McEwin Hospital last Tuesday.

Five frontline health workers received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, including Dr Dharminy Thurairatnam who was instrumental in discovering the Parafield outbreak in November.

It came just over a week after the delivery of a vaccination freezer, and exactly a year since the first COVID-19 test was undertaken at the hospital.

The first doses of the Pfizer vaccine were delivered earlier the same morning.

Lyell McEwin became the state’s fifth vaccination hub, joining the Royal Adelaide Hospital, Flinders Medical Centre, Women’s and Children’s and Murray Bridge Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital.

Dr Dharminy, who works in the hospital’s emergency department, said she was “excited” to be among the first group of health professionals to receive their vaccination.

“I feel very honoured, I feel very privileged, and I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves,” she said.

She said she had a duty of care as a doctor to protect her patients, and the first step to doing that was “being brave” and setting an example by getting vaccinated.

About 350 people were expected to be vaccinated at the hospital within the first week.

Health minister Stephen Wade said operations will increase in the coming weeks.

“At its peak, the clinic’s eight cubicles will have capacity to provide 224 vaccinations per day,” he said.

Lyell McEwin’s vaccination freezer can store up to 280,000 doses.

More than 5000 people work across the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN), which includes the Lyell McEwin Hospital and Modbury Hospital.

Mr Wade said NALHN is in a “strong position” to vaccinate the workforce before the vaccination program expands.

So far more than 3500 doses have been administered across South Australia during Phase 1a of the vaccine roll out.

In the week leading up to the delivery of the first doses, 40 staff members undertook training to ensure they met the requirements to store and administered the vaccine.

NALHN Director of Nursing (Operation), Andrew McGill, said staff had shown their willingness to get vaccinated.

“Staff across our network have been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19, putting their hands up in droves to help their colleague’s interstate or jumping at the opportunity to work at testing clinics in the community,” Mr McGill said.

“In just a few weeks, we have had about 300 clinical and administration staff submit their interest through an EOI process to be involved in the NALHN vaccination program, which will
be ongoing throughout the year.”